Two 16-story cranes, constructed in China, went into service Friday and will be used in a new service the Port will receive soon. They will allow Port Tampa Bay to serve the wider container ships that travel through the recently expanded Panama Canal. They cost $24 million and were delivered this past spring.
The new cranes will have a reach of 160 feet, the width of 19 cargo containers. New post-Panamax ships can hold 19 containers across their girths. Skip O'Rourke | TIMES

TAMPA — A new weekly container shipping service has arrived at Port Tampa Bay.

Linea Peninsular, a Panama City-based shipping company, has inked a deal to begin a container shipping service between Mexico and Tampa, according to a news release.

The weekly, fixed-day service calls Port Tampa Bay every Tuesday to and from the ports of Altamira and Progreso in Mexico. The two-and-a-half day trip from northern Mexico and 2-day trip to the Yucatan peninsula offers a new option for delivering products from Tampa Bay.

The service will deliver container goods, including refrigerated goods, and can also accommodate breakbulk cargo.

"We are delighted to welcome Linea Peninsular to Port Tampa Bay," said Paul Anderson, CEO of Port Tampa Bay, in a statement. "Linea Peninsular enjoys a well-deserved reputation as the premiere ocean carrier between Mexico and the United States, having provided reliable and quality service in this trade for over 32 years. Mexico is already one of Port Tampa Bay's top trading partners and we see significant potential to expand our containerized business with Mexico, including for such commodities as food and beverage products, consumer goods and construction and building materials."

"We are very excited to add Port Tampa Bay to our rotation" said David Humphreys, CEO of Linea Peninsular, in a statement. "We have wanted to do this for quite some time as the large consumer market in the Tampa Bay I-4 corridor market has become the primary distribution center hub for Florida."